A study of 521 teacher education students taking the Pre-Professional Skills Test (PPST) revealed that students with American College Testing Program (ACT) composite scores of 21 or higher had a high probability of passing all 3 parts of the PPST at the first attempt at a cutoff score of 169. A state testing exemption for such students resulted.…

Describes a study of California public-school principals aiming to identify important parameters of secondary instructional leadership, estimate their effect on school achievement, and determine whether they are the same for secondary and elementary principals. The ways that principals govern the school, build school climate, and organize the…

Kindergartners and third and sixth graders chose classmates whom they would and would not like to have as teammates for an academic contest and as playmates; they also rated their classmates on likability and academic ability. At all ages, children's choices for academic competition and play were associated with their ratings of their classmates'…

Data collected from 128 third through sixth graders over a 1-year period demonstrated that individuals with withdrawn social behavior, low peer acceptance, few or no friendships, and an internal-stable attributional style were more likely to have higher levels of concurrent and future loneliness than individuals not exhibiting these…

Tested propositions concerning the relation of organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and perceived availability of alternative employment to intentions to leave or remain in child care work. Results indicated that commitment, satisfaction with pay and promotion opportunities, and perceived job alternatives contributed significantly to…

Platelet serotonin (5HT) levels of 5 autistic subjects (ages 16-37) who had siblings with either autism or pervasive developmental disorder were significantly higher than levels of 23 autistic subjects without affected siblings. Autistic subjects without affected siblings had 5HT levels significantly higher than 10 normal controls. Sex, age, and…

Reviews research conducted on adult populations dealing with correlates or predictors of proficiency in a second language. Four classes of individual difference variables are considered, including (1) attitudes and motivation; (2) language aptitude and intelligence; (3) language learning strategies; and (4) personality variables. (83 references)…

Examined mother-child interaction in play and teaching tasks. Mother-child interaction aggregates represented task orientation, positive emotion, and allowance of autonomy. Maternal interaction aggregates predicted teachers' ratings of children's positive social behavior, assertiveness, and sadness in the preschool setting. (BC)

Examined records of 137 students to determine extent to which preassessment data (teacher referral information and standardized reading test scores) could predict handicapping classifications decided on by child-study teams. Results indicated that preassessment data could successfully predict handicapped classifications of most special education…

Examined whether performance on scales reflecting problem-solving dimensions of personality could predict ego-strength in college students (n=348). Findings did not support statistically significant relationship between all problem-solving scales and ego-strength. Individually, evidence supported hypothesis that ego-strength can be predicted from…

This study examined whether the relative efficacy of 2 language teaching methods was predicted by pretreatment subject characteristics of 40 handicapped preschoolers. Seven statistical interactions between pretreatment subject characteristics and language teaching methods indicated that lower-functioning children benefited more from the Milieu…

Seventy physicians and two nurse practitioners rated colposcopic photographs. Results showed that leaders in the field of child sexual abuse assessment made significantly more accurate assessments than pediatricians, pediatric and family practice residents, and intern physicians. Predictors of agreement with standard assessments, although weak,…

Study examined mother-child interaction characteristics in relation to the scholastic achievement of elementary students. Researchers videotaped mother-child interactions as they worked together on a project. Factor analysis of interaction variables indicated maternal verbal guidance was a significant predictor of scholastic achievement,…

The theoretical model of medical student performance begins with 38 measures, reduced to 18 without loss of information. These measures are shown to reflect five underlying theoretical interrelated variables: medical knowledge; clinical performance; science aptitude; college achievement; and attitudes and values. Results should be useful in…

Discussion of the use of selective dissemination of information (SDI) focuses on a study that proposed a model for evaluating the relationship between SDI and the number of publications authored by basic research scientists working in a corporate research and development (R&D) environment. Hypotheses and their findings are presented. (Seven…